The first chapter of the book of Alma sets the stage for things that will come shortly after. Alma has taken the office of chief judge and is administering the affairs of the Nephite nation. We don't really hear about the establishment of the office, or of the pains of defining the roles of the state administrators. We aren't given the details of taxation, law enforcement, military provisions, or other details of the country's new government. I think these details would be interesting, but in the context of the purpose of the Book of Mormon, these details are irrevelant. I'm sure they weren't irrelevant to Alma, though; while he was overseeing the myriad problems of setting up the new governmental system, he also was serving as the high priest over the church.
We learn of an event that occurred during the first four years of Alma's term in office. A man by the name of Nehor begins preaching what would become a very popular set of beliefs. In a nutshell, this is what he taught the people:
-- Every priest and teacher should be popular
-- Priests and teachers shouldn't labor for the own support; they should be supported by the people
-- Everyone would be saved at the last day, no matter what. The Lord had created all and had redeemed all, so all would receive eternal life
-- People don't have to humble themselves, all can rejoice (as an extrapolation, this would mean that it didn't matter what you did, you would be saved in the end; humility, kindness, service, etc. was unnecessary)
Let me say that these doctrinal points, like all of Satan's lies, have a grain of truth.
-- Several Gospel Doctrine class teachers I have known were immensely popular. People would crowd themselves into the classroom so that they could participate in the lesson. This, however, was usually because of the spirit of learning and the Spirit of God that accompanied the teacher - brought on by loving the Gospel, careful Gospel study, and by spiritually preparing for the lesson.
-- All people can be saved: "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Pearl of Great Price, Articles of Faith, #3)
-- What you do in life does matter ; consider these scriptures: "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." (Psalms 10:4). "For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence" (Alma 12:14).
As a contrast, consider this: "And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord" (Matthew 25:20-21). Godly traits can only be obtained by Godly behavior. There are no shortcuts - indeed there is no other way.
Needless to say, Nehor's teachings were popular among some of the people. But among the faithful people there was a man who Nehor couldn't convince; in fact, Nehor became so irritated with the man who withstood him that he drew his sword and began to smite the man. This faithful man was Gideon, who escaped with the people of Limhi from the land of Nephi - Lehi. Gideon was aged now, and could not withstand Nehor's blows; Gideon was slain. This became Nehor's undoing. He was taken to the chief judge. Alma condemned Nehor to die for Gideon's murder. Moreover, Alma declared that Nehor's attempt to enforce priestcraft by violence was an example of what could become the new nation's undoing.
Nehor must have done some major soul-searching, for just prior to his execution, he acknowledged to all present that the things he had taught were contrary to God's law. Sadly, this was overlooked by his followers, who pursued these popular points of doctrine and the lifestyle they supported. As we read on in the book of Alma, we hear more of Nehors followers and their separation from the people of God.
My observation of our times, with the lens of Alma chapter 1 is this: People everywhere, in all walks of life and in all religions, tend to interpret what is right or wrong by adapting their tenets of faith to what they desire. This sounds pessimistic, I know. There is a formula, however that can be both a remedy and an ounce of prevention. This the formula:
-- Read the scriptures regularly; try to understand what they mean to your betterment as a spiritual being.
-- Pray regularly and often. Seek to know that the scriptures are true. Ask how they can benefit your life. Ask for blessings upon others. Ask for guidance in your life.
-- Listen to the guidance the Lord gives you and act upon it. Do what you are led by God's whisperings to do.
These are simple steps, but they are powerful. They will bring us unity with our Heavenly Father and peace to our lives.
Don
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
A New Government: Mosiah 28-29
The sons of Mosiah, after turning their lives around and after laboring to repair the harm they had done, were moved to serve a mission to the Lamanite people. Why would they want to do this? "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever" (Mosiah 28: 3-4)
They needed their father's support. They didn't go to him and say "this is what we are going to do", they went to him and pled with the king to be allowed to serve their mission. I'm sure that Mosiah didn't want his sons to go. This would be a dangerous journey; they would be gone an underminate amount of time. Mosiah saw that they were anxious to do this thing and understood their motivation. He did what every parent would (or at least should) do: He turned to the Lord for guidance. The Lord's response was this: "Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites" (Mosiah 28: 7). Mosiah granted that they could go according to their desires.
Being a parent, I think that this would be very hard to do. Would I trust the Lord's promise enough to allow my children to go as Mosiah did. It would be very comforting to know that the Lord would preserve their lives as well as change the lives of others. This is really what happens to families in the church all the time: they send their young men out into the mission field, trusting in the Lord to watch over them, to guide them and to bless them with success. Parents let their sons go knowing that they will not see them for 2 years. Having done this, I can somewhat understand Mosiah's decision. Imagine, though, that you're sending your son off to a place where they are likely to be killed, imprisoned, abused, taunted or injured. Imagine you sent them off for an unspecified amount of time. Imagine they are on their own with no plans for housing, meals, or care. It would be very hard. Mosiah's trust in the Lord must have been very high.
As it turns out, Mosiah's sons were gone for 14 years, and suffered many of the things I mentioned above. Why did they do this? Mosiah 28:3-4. What is our motivation for being members of the church? What moves us to perform our callings, to show compassion, or to help others. Ideally it would be similar to the motivation of the sons of Mosiah.
Mosiah's decision to allow his sons to go on their mission had an indirect but high cost: He was left without an heir to the kingdom. (We really don't know about any other of Mosiah's family members; could it be that he had 4 sons and that was it? Could there have been other younger brothers or any sisters? No way to tell). I believe Mosiah knew this when he granted them permission to leave. As parents, there are times when we do something in spite of inconvenience to ourselves or our family because it will benefit others. Again the question, Why? Mosiah 28:3-4.
We don't read of any complaining from Mosiah; I believe he wasn't that type of person anyway. Instead, he conceived of a system of government that would provide for the Nephites' future and give them the freedom that he wanted them to have. I am speaking of the system of judges to govern the Nephite society that was proposed by Mosiah and accepted by the people. I can't help but wonder if Mosiah patterned this system after the judges of Israelite history.
Once Mosiah had planned the framework of his proposed government, he gathered the people together and presented it to them. In this gathering, Mosiah pointed out several things he wanted the people to consider:
-- A system of governers that would provide leadership and dispute resolution by ordinary people that were chosen by the people themselves.
-- A hierarchy of leaders to allow elected leadership, ranging from local leaders to national leaders.
-- The wisdom of avoiding monarchy that could lead to bad or sinful leadership.
This system allowed the people greater freedom than they had ever had before. It is likely that this is one of the first truly representative forms of government to appear on the earth. Of course there were governments that had representation of the people. Rome and Greece for instance, had these; but the representatives were at the behest of a monarchical sovereign. The system of judges adopted by the Nephites included election of the highest leader, intermediate leaders, and local leaders. They were all chosen by the voice of the people.
Mosiah also helped formulate the laws of the land that the judges and the people would live by. Going forward in the Book of Mormon there are several scriptures that refer to the laws given to the Nephites by king Mosiah.
An interesting thought came to me as I read this: Mosiah discussed how wicked kings could make the people become wicked and stray from God. It seems to me that parents have that same power upon their families. Parents have a great deal of influence upon their children, including the attitudes they have for serving others, fulfilling their callings, studying the Gospel, and living good lives. Children pick up on these things; they also pick up on their parents' language, bad attitudes and other not so great traits. I believe there are many people who are not acquainted with the Gospel because their parents or their grandparents strayed. In these cases, the children or grandchildren are paying for their parents' mistakes. "...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:7). We need to be mindful of our actions in our families because our family's future depends on what we say and do.
One last note: Mosiah died at age 65, in the year 91 B.C. He had reigned for 33 years. The narrative in the book of Mosiah about his reign didn't convey (to me, at least) that Mosiah served as king for such a long time. Alma the elder died in the same year at the age of 81. My guess is that Alma the younger was probably in his 30s when he became the leader of the church and was also elected the chief judge. Doing the math on his father, it appears to me that he was about 26-27 years of age when he heard Abinadi deliver his last sermon to king Noah and his priests. May we each serve the Lord for as long a time or longer, as did Mosiah. May we each be motivated by the truth of the Gospel as was Alma the elder in his youth.
Don
They needed their father's support. They didn't go to him and say "this is what we are going to do", they went to him and pled with the king to be allowed to serve their mission. I'm sure that Mosiah didn't want his sons to go. This would be a dangerous journey; they would be gone an underminate amount of time. Mosiah saw that they were anxious to do this thing and understood their motivation. He did what every parent would (or at least should) do: He turned to the Lord for guidance. The Lord's response was this: "Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites" (Mosiah 28: 7). Mosiah granted that they could go according to their desires.
Being a parent, I think that this would be very hard to do. Would I trust the Lord's promise enough to allow my children to go as Mosiah did. It would be very comforting to know that the Lord would preserve their lives as well as change the lives of others. This is really what happens to families in the church all the time: they send their young men out into the mission field, trusting in the Lord to watch over them, to guide them and to bless them with success. Parents let their sons go knowing that they will not see them for 2 years. Having done this, I can somewhat understand Mosiah's decision. Imagine, though, that you're sending your son off to a place where they are likely to be killed, imprisoned, abused, taunted or injured. Imagine you sent them off for an unspecified amount of time. Imagine they are on their own with no plans for housing, meals, or care. It would be very hard. Mosiah's trust in the Lord must have been very high.
As it turns out, Mosiah's sons were gone for 14 years, and suffered many of the things I mentioned above. Why did they do this? Mosiah 28:3-4. What is our motivation for being members of the church? What moves us to perform our callings, to show compassion, or to help others. Ideally it would be similar to the motivation of the sons of Mosiah.
Mosiah's decision to allow his sons to go on their mission had an indirect but high cost: He was left without an heir to the kingdom. (We really don't know about any other of Mosiah's family members; could it be that he had 4 sons and that was it? Could there have been other younger brothers or any sisters? No way to tell). I believe Mosiah knew this when he granted them permission to leave. As parents, there are times when we do something in spite of inconvenience to ourselves or our family because it will benefit others. Again the question, Why? Mosiah 28:3-4.
We don't read of any complaining from Mosiah; I believe he wasn't that type of person anyway. Instead, he conceived of a system of government that would provide for the Nephites' future and give them the freedom that he wanted them to have. I am speaking of the system of judges to govern the Nephite society that was proposed by Mosiah and accepted by the people. I can't help but wonder if Mosiah patterned this system after the judges of Israelite history.
Once Mosiah had planned the framework of his proposed government, he gathered the people together and presented it to them. In this gathering, Mosiah pointed out several things he wanted the people to consider:
-- A system of governers that would provide leadership and dispute resolution by ordinary people that were chosen by the people themselves.
-- A hierarchy of leaders to allow elected leadership, ranging from local leaders to national leaders.
-- The wisdom of avoiding monarchy that could lead to bad or sinful leadership.
This system allowed the people greater freedom than they had ever had before. It is likely that this is one of the first truly representative forms of government to appear on the earth. Of course there were governments that had representation of the people. Rome and Greece for instance, had these; but the representatives were at the behest of a monarchical sovereign. The system of judges adopted by the Nephites included election of the highest leader, intermediate leaders, and local leaders. They were all chosen by the voice of the people.
Mosiah also helped formulate the laws of the land that the judges and the people would live by. Going forward in the Book of Mormon there are several scriptures that refer to the laws given to the Nephites by king Mosiah.
An interesting thought came to me as I read this: Mosiah discussed how wicked kings could make the people become wicked and stray from God. It seems to me that parents have that same power upon their families. Parents have a great deal of influence upon their children, including the attitudes they have for serving others, fulfilling their callings, studying the Gospel, and living good lives. Children pick up on these things; they also pick up on their parents' language, bad attitudes and other not so great traits. I believe there are many people who are not acquainted with the Gospel because their parents or their grandparents strayed. In these cases, the children or grandchildren are paying for their parents' mistakes. "...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:7). We need to be mindful of our actions in our families because our family's future depends on what we say and do.
One last note: Mosiah died at age 65, in the year 91 B.C. He had reigned for 33 years. The narrative in the book of Mosiah about his reign didn't convey (to me, at least) that Mosiah served as king for such a long time. Alma the elder died in the same year at the age of 81. My guess is that Alma the younger was probably in his 30s when he became the leader of the church and was also elected the chief judge. Doing the math on his father, it appears to me that he was about 26-27 years of age when he heard Abinadi deliver his last sermon to king Noah and his priests. May we each serve the Lord for as long a time or longer, as did Mosiah. May we each be motivated by the truth of the Gospel as was Alma the elder in his youth.
Don
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Rising Generation - Mosiah 26-27
This is an interesting development in the Nephite/Zarahemla history. King Benjamin's address, given just before his son Mosiah was made king, profoundly touched the hearts, minds and lives of his people. They were touched so deeply that they (almost unanimously) made covenants with God and took upon themselves the name of Christ. Their society became one of peace. They faithfully kept God's commandments and served on another. Into this society came Limhi's and Alma's people, who took upon themselves the same convenants.
Fast forward a few years, though; some of the young children who were too young to understand King Benjamin's words were now rebelling. They "...did not believe the tradition of their fathers. They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ" (Mosiah 26: 1-2). In considering this situation, it occurs to me that this scenario plays out over and over in humanity. There are many examples of young people rejecting the beliefs or traditions of their parents. I don't think it is necessarily a generational thing, though. Many people want to think their own thoughts or to be their own person. Nothing wrong with that as long as the baby isn't thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak. Verse 1 of chapter 26 says that many of the rising generation "could not understand" Benjamin's words. It goes on to say, though, that "they did not believe" what their parents believed. There is a distinction that I want to point out.
-- Not understanding: I don't get it for some reason, not my fault.
-- Not believing: I don't accept it for whatever personal reason I have, it's my choice.
This is a problem for people, no matter what age they are. There many things we may not understand about the Gospel or about God's plan. We must seek the spirit in these matters to guide us; perhaps we may never fully understand, but at least the spirit will prevent our lack of understanding from becoming a spiritual stumbling block. We must not allow a lack of understanding to be a barrier to a testimony in all other areas of the gospel. Sadly, this happens too often. Think of people who disagree with something that a general authority has said and who let it drive them from activity in the church. This happens too often!
Using Satan's old tried-and-true methods, those young unbelievers flattered anyone who would hear them away from the church, and they persecuted those who would not listen to them. Among this group were, notably, King Mosiah's four sons as well as Alma's son. Think of how gleeful this must have made Satan, capturing the children of the religious leader and of the king of the land! In a way, I think of this as Satan trying to fend off the potential these five had for serving the Lord's purposes. He desperately wanted to keep them from doing the good works that they eventually did!
Have you ever been caught doing something that you knew to be wrong? You can imagine how Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah must have felt when they were visited by an angel of the Lord. "...the angel ...descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood; And again, the angel said... ...why persecutest thou the church of God? I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God... And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God." (Mosiah 27: 11, 13-15).
If you sometimes feel that your prayers are in vain, think of what the angel said to these wayward sons: "Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come..." (Mosiah 27: 13-14).
Alma and his compatriots were getting in deep, but the Lord knew their value and He took miraculous steps to change things. His servant, Alma (and I believe Mosiah too, as well as other) were pleading for a miracle that would affect these boys. Can we petition the Lord for a miracle? I believe we can. I know of instances in families where a family member or members were totally on the wrong track, looking like there was no hope of them turning back. For reasons I don't know, these people did turn around, and obtained their own testimony. As the Lord said to Abraham: "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14). Certainly the Lord can do all things, and He will do all things within His wisdom.
The end result of the angel's visit: Alma and his brethren repented and went about trying to undo the harm they had caused. In the end, there probably could not be anyone who was more dedicated to the Lord's purposes than these five young men. I have to think that there were many who would never have believed it possible. We really can't fathom how the Lord's miracles will work in peoples lives; we can only work to accept His will in our lives, live examples for others to follow, and pray faithfully for those who needs the Lord's blessings. These are the things that make a society spiritually rich.
Don
Fast forward a few years, though; some of the young children who were too young to understand King Benjamin's words were now rebelling. They "...did not believe the tradition of their fathers. They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ" (Mosiah 26: 1-2). In considering this situation, it occurs to me that this scenario plays out over and over in humanity. There are many examples of young people rejecting the beliefs or traditions of their parents. I don't think it is necessarily a generational thing, though. Many people want to think their own thoughts or to be their own person. Nothing wrong with that as long as the baby isn't thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak. Verse 1 of chapter 26 says that many of the rising generation "could not understand" Benjamin's words. It goes on to say, though, that "they did not believe" what their parents believed. There is a distinction that I want to point out.
-- Not understanding: I don't get it for some reason, not my fault.
-- Not believing: I don't accept it for whatever personal reason I have, it's my choice.
This is a problem for people, no matter what age they are. There many things we may not understand about the Gospel or about God's plan. We must seek the spirit in these matters to guide us; perhaps we may never fully understand, but at least the spirit will prevent our lack of understanding from becoming a spiritual stumbling block. We must not allow a lack of understanding to be a barrier to a testimony in all other areas of the gospel. Sadly, this happens too often. Think of people who disagree with something that a general authority has said and who let it drive them from activity in the church. This happens too often!
Using Satan's old tried-and-true methods, those young unbelievers flattered anyone who would hear them away from the church, and they persecuted those who would not listen to them. Among this group were, notably, King Mosiah's four sons as well as Alma's son. Think of how gleeful this must have made Satan, capturing the children of the religious leader and of the king of the land! In a way, I think of this as Satan trying to fend off the potential these five had for serving the Lord's purposes. He desperately wanted to keep them from doing the good works that they eventually did!
Have you ever been caught doing something that you knew to be wrong? You can imagine how Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah must have felt when they were visited by an angel of the Lord. "...the angel ...descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood; And again, the angel said... ...why persecutest thou the church of God? I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God... And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God." (Mosiah 27: 11, 13-15).
If you sometimes feel that your prayers are in vain, think of what the angel said to these wayward sons: "Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come..." (Mosiah 27: 13-14).
Alma and his compatriots were getting in deep, but the Lord knew their value and He took miraculous steps to change things. His servant, Alma (and I believe Mosiah too, as well as other) were pleading for a miracle that would affect these boys. Can we petition the Lord for a miracle? I believe we can. I know of instances in families where a family member or members were totally on the wrong track, looking like there was no hope of them turning back. For reasons I don't know, these people did turn around, and obtained their own testimony. As the Lord said to Abraham: "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14). Certainly the Lord can do all things, and He will do all things within His wisdom.
The end result of the angel's visit: Alma and his brethren repented and went about trying to undo the harm they had caused. In the end, there probably could not be anyone who was more dedicated to the Lord's purposes than these five young men. I have to think that there were many who would never have believed it possible. We really can't fathom how the Lord's miracles will work in peoples lives; we can only work to accept His will in our lives, live examples for others to follow, and pray faithfully for those who needs the Lord's blessings. These are the things that make a society spiritually rich.
Don
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